Building wall unit for an opaque and translucent corrugation surface



F. PENNELL BUILDING WALL UNIT FOR AN OPAQUE AND TRANSLUCENT CORRUGATION SURFACE Aug. 9, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 27, 1949 FIGS.

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F. PENNELL BUILDING WALL UNIT FOR AN OPAQUE AND TRANSLUCENT CORRUGATION SURFACE Aug. 9, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 27, 1949 FIG.

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Vf/VTOI? FOR I: P E NN ELL. M H 7'7ORNEY Z ,7 14,8 1 5 Patented Aug. 9, 1955 lice BUILDING WALL UNIT FOR AN OPAQUE AND TRANSLUCENT CORRUGATION SURFACE Ford Pennell, Webster Groves, Mo., assiguor to lane Booth Pennell, Webster Groves, Mo.

Application June 27, 1949, Serial No. 101,535

7 Claims. (Cl. 72-41) The invention relates to building materials and more particularly to those used in translucent or transparent wall structures, such as blocks of glass, plastic and similar materials. This application is a continuation in part of a co-pending application, Serial No. 658,167, filed March 29, 1946, now abandoned, by the present inventor.

One object of the invention is to block or materially reduce transmission of the direct light and heat rays of the sun, striking the block or wall, into a building, when the sun is well above the horizon and at the same time transmit into the building those rays which are reflected from the ground and surroundings of the building.

Another object is to pass substantially all the direct rays of the sun, striking the block or wall, into the building as the sun approaches the horizon.

The invention contemplates a building block, or a building wall or section thereof, which may include a plurality of building blocks, with upright exterior side faces. One of the side faces consists substantially of corrugations comprising straight line elements extending substantially parallel to the horizon, i. e., parallel to the plane of the block base which is arranged to stably support the block and its load. The corrugation surfaces face generally away from the body of the block and generally toward the planes of the top face and base. These surfaces may be planar or arcuate, or both, and if the surfaces are arcuate they may be either concave or convex.

Those corrugation surfaces facing generally towards the plane of the top face, or at least the major portions thereof, are coated with a substance which prevents or materially reduces transmission of the light and heat rays. Other corrugation surface portions facing generally toward the plane of the base are substantially translucent and permit rays scattered or reflected from the surround ings of the building to pass therethrough. The arrangement of the corrugations may be varied to block and to pass desired quantities of direct rays and reflected rays through the wall structure, and the coating thereon may be such as to pass desired proportions of light and heat rays.

The above and other detailed objects of the invention, as will appear below, are attained by the structure shown in the accompanying drawings, which structure is intended to be illustrative and not exclusive of other arrangements providing the general inventive principle. In these drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a building block constructed according to the invention.

Figure 2 is a transverse vertical section, drawn to an enlarged scale, and taken approximately on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a detailed vertical section, drawn to an enlarged scale of a portion of the right-hand face of the building block shown in Figure 2.

Figures 4 and 6 are vertical sections corresponding to the right-hand portion of Figure 2 and show other embodiments of the invention.

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wall.

Figures 5 and 7 are sections corresponding generally to Figure 3 and show the embodiments of Figures 4 and 6, respectively.

Figures 8 and 15 are diagrammatical views showing several other arrangements of the corrugated surfaces in the outer faces of building blocks according to the invention.

Figures 9 to 14 are transverse vertical sections of other forms of building blocks constructed according to the invention.

A building block constructed according to the invention, of glass, plastic or other transparent or translucent material, comprises an upright exterior front or side face ll, an upright exterior rear or side face 2, a top face 3,

-' end faces 5 and 6, and a base or bottom face 4 upon which the block and its load may be stably supported. The block preferably is hollow and may be formed by uniting two separately molded units and fusing them together as indicated at 7. Top and bottom faces 3 and 4 and end faces 5 and 6 may be grooved, as shown, to receive mortar to bind the block to upper and lower locks in building a wall structure. Top and bottom faces preferably are positioned in horizontal planes when the blocks are assembled to one another in building a Front face 1 has corrugations with surfaces consisting of straight line elements extending substantially parallel to the planes of the top face 3 and base 4 and preferably, but not necessarily, from end face 5 to end face 6.

in the embodiment shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3, corrugation surfaces 8 face generally upwardly and outwardly of the block toward the plane of top face 3 and surfaces 9 face generally downwardly and outwardly of the block toward the plane of base 4;. Corrugation surfaces 8 and 9 are planar and are of substantially equal area and are inclined at angles of approximately 45 to the planes of the top and bottom faces. The angle between successive surfaces is approximately 90.

Downwardly facing surfaces 9 are transparent or translucent and pass light and heat rays of the sun. Upwardly facing surfaces 8 are rendered substantially impervious to the rays of the sun by coating the surfaces with a light and heat reflecting or filtering substance. Surfaces 8 may be coated with a metallic mirror finish or a white enamel finish, Which would reflect substantially all the light and heat rays, or the surfaces may be coated with a blue filtering glass finish, which would permit a substantial quantity of the light rays to pass but be at least partially impervious to the heat rays, or the surfaces may be coated with a black enamel finish which would absorb a substantial quantity of the heat rays and be impervious to the light rays. Preferably the coating may be treated so that it becomes an integral part of the building block.

Direct rays of the sun striking upwardly facing surfaces 8 are reflected, scattered or absorbed, depending upon the coating used. Downwardly facing surfaces 9 are immediately below the level of the outer extremities of the respective associated surfaces 8 and extend inwardly from such extremities so that a straight line inclined 45 from the vertical and passing by or just clearing the outer extremity of each surface S will avoid striking the associated surface 9. Hence, when the sun is 45 or more above the horizon, surfaces 9 are shaded from direct rays of the sun and pass only rays reflected or scattered from surfaces 3, or from surrounding objects.

When the sun is less than 45 above the horizon, the direct rays of the sun strike the downwardly facing translucent surfaces 9 and, as the sun approaches the horizon, increasing quantities of the direct rays of the sun pass through the block. For example, when the sun is 40 above the horizon, 38% of the direct rays of the sun striking surfaces 9 pass through the block; when the sun is 35 above the horizon, 60% of the direct rays of the sun striking. surfaces t passthrough, the. block; when the sun is 30 above the horizon, 74% of the direct rays pass through the block; when the sun is 25 above the horizon, 82% of." the direct: rays pass through the block; when the sun is 20 above the horizon, 87% of. the direct rays pass through the block, and when the sun is 10 above the horizon, 92% of the direct. rays pass through. the block,

The'embodiment showninFigures 4 and 5 is substantially like the structure shown in Figures l3, except. that front. face lahas. upwardly and outwardly facing corrugation'surfaces ltlinclinedatangles. of 60 to the planes of the top face and base, and downwardly andoutwardly facing corrugation surfaces. 11 inclined at anglesof 30 tothe planesv of the top face andbase. The area ofthe upwardly facing. surfaces-.isgreater. than the downwardly facing surfaces. The: upwardly facing. surfaces are coated with a substance substantially impervious to the direct rays of. the sun and shade downwardly facing surfaces 11, which pass. only reflected. or. scattered light, when the sun is30 or. more above the horizon.

When thesun is less than 30 above the horizon the direct rays of the sun strike downwardly facing translucent surfaces. 11 and, asthe sun approaches the horizon, increasing quantities ofv the direct. rays of the sun pass through. the block. For example, when the sun is 25 above the horizon, 38% of the raysof the sun striking surfaces. 11' pass through the block, when the sun is 20 above the horizon, 60% ofv the direct rays pass through the block and when the sun is 10 above. the horizon, 82% of the direct rays pass throughthe block.

The embodiment shown in Figures 6 and 7 is substantially the same as thearrangemcnt shown in Figures 1-3, exceptv that front face 1b has intermediate surfaces 13.facing outwardly of, theblock and. extending perpendicularly to the plane. of the top face and base. Surfaces 13 are positioned betweennpwardly and outwardly facing corrugation surfacesll and downwardly and outwardly facing corrugation surfaces 14. Surfaces 12 and 14 are inclined substantially at angles of 45 to the planes of the top face, and base. Surfaces 12 are coated with a. substance substantially impervious to the rays of the suns Surfaces13 and,14 are translucent and preferably are f; such sizeandare so arranged with respect to surfaces 12. so thatjn the summer, when the direction of the surfs rays are substantially vertical, or even inclined less than 20 from a perpendicular to the plane of the base as indicated by arrow x in Figure 7, surfaces 13 and 14 are shadedv from the direct rays of the sun by surfaces 1 2, which willpermitonly scattered or reflected rays to pass; through surfaces 13 and 14. However, during the winter months, when the suns rays are more oblique, as indicated by the arrow in Figure 7, surfaces 12- do not shade intermediate surfaces 13 from the direct rays of the sun. Under these conditions, intermediate surfaces 13 are exposedto and permit direct rays of the sun to pass therethrough.

Figure 8 shows diagrammatically several other possible arrangements of the planar corrugation surfaces. In Figure ,8A, the upwardly and downwardly facing surfaces a, a are inclined at angles of 25 to the, plane of the base. In Figure 8B, each upwardly facing surface [2 is inclined at an angle of 25 and each-downwardly facing surface b is inclined at. an angle of 70 to the plane of the base or 20 from a perpendicular to the plane of the base. In Figure 8C, the upwardly and downwardly facing surfaces c, c are inclined at angles of 70 to the plane of the base or 20 from a perpendicular to the plane of the base. In Figure 8D, each upwardly facing surface d is inclined as in Figure 8C but each downwardly facing surface a'" is inclined at an angle of 25 to the. plane of the base. Upwardly facing surfaces a, b, c, d are treated tomaterially reduce transmission of the suns rays.

In the. embodiment shown in Figure 9, the surfaces of the corrugations in front face 1d are concave and face generally away from the building block body. Portions 15 of the corrugation surfaces face generally downwardly toward the plane of base 4d and are translucent so that they may transmit rays of the sun. Portions 16 of the corrugation surfaces face generally upwardly toward the plane of top face 3d and are treated to block or materially reduce transmission of the suns rays.

The translucent portion 15 of each corrugation extendsdownwardly and inwardly in a quadrant of a circle. The treated surface 16 of each corrugation extendsdown- Wardly and outwardly in an arc of a circle of approximately and terminates in a plane inclined at an angle of approximately 45 to the plane of the base.

The relative areas of translucent portions 15 and treated portions 16 are such that, when he sun is at an angle of approximately 45 or more above the horizon, portions 15 are shaded from direct rays of the sun by portions 16 and pass only the rays reflected or scattered from portions 16 or from surrounding objects.

In Figure 10, front face 12 has convex corrugation surfaces 17 facing. generally downwardly and outwardly of the block toward the plane of base 4e, and convex corrugation surfaces 18 facing generally upwardly and outwardly of the block toward the plane of top face 3e. Each surface 17, 18 forms an arc of a circle. The upperv and lower ends of surfaces 17 are inclined at angles of approximately and 15, respectively, to the planes of top face 3e and base 4e. The upper and lower ends of surfaces 18 are inclined at angles of approximately 30 and respectively, to the planes of the top face and base. In other words,,the tangents to the arcuate surfaces 18 vary from 60 to 20 from a perpendicular to the plane of the base.

Surfaces 17 are translucent and surfaces 18 are coated With a substance which blocks or materially reduces transmission of the suns rays and shade surfaces 17 from the direct rays of the sun, when the sun is 60 or more above the horizon, so that surfaces 17 pass only reflected or scattered rays.

In Figure 11 front face 1 has concave corrugation surfaces 19 facing generally downwardly and outwardly of the block toward the plane of base 4f, and concave corrugation surfaces 20 facing generally upwardly and outwardly of the block toward the plane of top face 3 Each surface 19 and 20 forms the arc of a circle. The upper and lower ends of surfaces 19 are inclined at angles of approximately 15 and 60, respectively, to the planes of the top face 3] and base 4f. The upper and lower ends of surfaces 20 are inclined at angles of approximately 70 and 30, respectively, to the planes of the top face and base or between 20 and 60 from a perpendicular to the plane of the base. Surfaces 19 are translucent and surfaces 20 are coated with a substance substantially impervious to the rays of the sun and shade surfaces 19 from the direct rays of the sun, when the sun is 45 or more above the horizon, so that surfaces 19 pass only reflected or scattered rays.

In Figure 12 the corrugation surfaces in front face 1g are concave and semi-circular. The upper quadrant 21 of each corrugation surface faces generally down- Wardlyand outwardly towards the plane of base 4g and is translucent. The lower quadrant 22 of each corrugation surface faces generally upwardly and outwardly towards the plane of the top face 3g andis substantially impervious to the suns rays. Portions 22 shade the translucent portions 21 from the directrays of the sun, when the sun is at an angle of 45 or more above the horizon, so that portions 21 pass only reflected or scattered rays.

The arrangement shown in Figure 13 is substantially the same as the arrangement shown in Figure 12, except that each corrugation surface in front face 1h in Figure 13 is less than a semi-circle. Impervious portion 2310f each corrugation extends about 15 above the midpoint of the arc and shades the translucent portion 24 from the direct rays of the sun when the sun is at an angle of 45 or more above the horizon. The lower ends of portions 23 and the upper ends of portions 24 are inclined at angles of approximately 25 to the planes of the top face 3h and base 4h.

In Figure 14 the corrugation surfaces in front face ilk are convex and semi-circular. The upper quadrant 25 of each corrugation surface faces generally upwardly and outwardly toward the plane of top face 3k. Quadrant 25 and the are 25a adjacent thereto, extending approximately 20 below the midpoint of the arc, are impervious to the suns rays and the remaining lower portion 26 of the corrugation surface, facing generally downwardly and outwardly of the block toward the base 4k, is translucent. Portions 25, 25a shade translucent portions 26 from the direct rays of the sun when the sun is 70 or more above the horizon or less than 20 from a perpendicular to the plane of the base.

Figure shows diagrammatically several other possible combinations of plane and arcuate corrugation surfaces. In Figure 15A, each upwardly facing surface a is planar and is inclined at an angle of 45 to the plane of the base. Each downwardly facing surface a is concave and the upper end of each surface is inclined at an angle of 25 and the lower end of each surface is inclined at an angle of 70 to the plane of the base. In Figure 15B, each upwardly facing surface b is concave and the upper end of the surface is inclined at an angle of 70 and the lower end of the surface is inclined at an angle of 25 to the plane of the base. Each downwardly facing surface b is planar and is inclined at an angle of 45 to the plane of the base. In Figure 15C, each upwardly facing surface 0 is convex and the upper end of the surface is inclined at an angle of 25 and the lower end is inclined at an angle of 70 to the plane of the base or from a perpendicular to the plane of the base. Each downwardly facing surface 0 is planar and is inclined at an angle of 45 to the plane of the base. In Figure 15D, each upwardly facing surface d is planar and is inclined at an angle of 45 to the plane of the base. Each downwardly facing surface a' is convex and the upper end of the surface is inclined at an angle of 70 to the plane of the base or 20 from a perpendicular to the plane of the base and the lower end of the surface is inclined at an angle of to the plane of the base or 55 from a perpendicular to the plane of the base. Upwardly facing surfaces a [1 c, d are treated to materially reduce transmission of the rays of the sun.

The amount of light and heat from the direct and reflected rays of the sun which is permitted to pass through the wall structure may be controlled by the configuration and angular arrangement of the corrugations and by the nature of the coating on the upwardly facing surfaces. The smaller the angle between successive opposing corrugation surfaces on the exterior of the block, the more light will be reflected into the translucent downwardly facing surfaces. The smaller the angle between the downwardly facing translucent surfaces and the vertical, the higher the angle at which the suns rays will begin to pass through the downwardly facing translucent surfaces. The smaller the angle between the upwardly facing impervious surfaces and the vertical, the greater will be the proportion of impervious surfaces to translucent surfaces provided the angle between successive opposing surfaces is fixed, and the smaller will be the percentage of rays transmitted to the total rays striking the building block.

As explained above, the nature of the coating on the upwardly facing surfaces determines the relative quantities of direct light and heat rays passing through these surfaces.

The wall structure, when in the northern hemisphere and facing toward the south, will permit more direct rays of the sun to pass therethrough in the winter time when warmth and light are needed, and to reflect and scatter more direct rays of the sun during the summer to reduce glare and heat transmission.

The details of the invention described and illustrated may be varied without departing from the spirit of the invention, and the exclusive use of those modifications coming within the scope of the claims is contemplated.

What is claimed is:

1. An integral hollow glass block for a building wall, having an exterior top face, an exterior base upon which the block and its load may be stably supported, and upright exterior side faces and end faces, one of said side faces having corrugations running substantially parallel to the base, alternate corrugation surfaces facing generally away from the block body and toward the plane of the top face of the block and being substantially opaque, and the other corrugation surfaces facing generally away from the block body and toward the plane of the base and being translucent, all of said surfaces being substantially planar and at angles of at least 25 to said planes, the angle between opposing surfaces of successive corrugations being less than 120.

2. An integral hollow block of translucent material for a building wall and having a base upon which the block and a load thereon may be stably supported, and

having a side generally perpendicular to said base and including corrugations extending substantially parallel to said base and having substantially planar surfaces facing generally away from the block body and away from the plane of said base and treated to materially resist the passage of light and heat rays from the sun, said surfaces being inclined at angles of from 25 to to a plane perpendicular to said base plane, and the corrugations having other substantially planar surfaces facing generally away from the block body and toward said base and being pervious to light and inclined at angles of approximately 90 to the first-mentioned surfaces.

3. A building wall comprising hollow blocks formed of translucent material, the block faces forming the inner face of the wall being substantially plane and in alignment, and the block faces forming the exterior face of the wall and subject to direct rays of the sun having corrugations extending substantially horizontally and comprising substantially planar surfaces inclined at angles of approximately 45 to the vertical and facing generally upwardly and downwardly, respectively, the upwardly facing surfaces being treated to materially reduce the transmission of the suns rays through the wall and the downward facing surfaces permitting the substantially unrestricted passage of light through the wall.

4. An integral hollow glass building block for a building wall, having a top exterior face, an exterior base upon which the block and its load may be stably supported, and upright exterior side faces and end faces, one of said side faces having corrugations running substantially parallel to the base, substantially the entire surfaces of the corrugations consisting of straight line elements extending substantially from end face to end face, substantially all of said surfaces facing generally away from the building block at angles of between 25 and to the planes of said top face and base, alternate corrugation surfaces facing generally toward the plane of said top face and being substantially opaque, and other corrugation surfaces facing generally toward the plane of the base and being light transmitting.

5. A glass building block as described in claim 4, in which the included angle between the successive opposing surfaces is approximately 6. A building wall including a section formed of hollow glass blocks, the exterior face of the wall section comprising corrugations extending substantially horizontally with alternate surfaces facing upwardly and outwardly of the wall, and the other surfaces facing downwardly and outwardly of the wall, said surfaces being of horizontal straight line elements with substantially all portions facing at angles of from 25 to 60 to the horizontal, and the angles between opposing surfaces of suc cessive' corrugations being approximately 90-", the upwardly and outwardly facing surfaces being opaque and the downwardly and outwardly facing surfaces being light transmitting.

7. A building wall including a section formed of 1101- low glassblocks, the exterior face of the wall section comprising corrugations extending substantially horizontally with alternate surfaces facing upwardly and outwardly of the wall, and the other surfaces facing downwardly andoutwardly of the wall, said surfaces being of horizontal straight line elements, the upwardly and outwardly facing-surfaces being disposed at an angle'of approximately 30 to the-vertical and beingtreated tomaterially reduce transmission of the suns rays andthe downwardly and outwardly facing surfaces being positioned at an angle of approximately 60 to the vertical and passing reflected rays of'the sun and being shaded by saidupwardly facing surfaces from-direct rays of the sun when the sun is atleast 30 above-the horizon;

References Citedv in' the file; of. this patent UNITED STATES- PATENTS 720,987 Wadsworth Feb. 17, 1903 721,259 Wadsworth Feb. 24, 1903 1,827,624 Smith et, a1 Oct. 13, 1931 1,949,898 Cochrane et a1; Mar. 6, 1934 2,179,863. Rolph. Nov. 14, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS 13,733 Great Britain of 1903 11,054 Great Britain of 1908 

